And Then Thunder Roared
by Thechieftain
Summary: It was different, yet mundanely the same. Time splintered into infinite iterations of itself, each with its own unique mark. And yet, even with all that had changed, everything seemed all too familiar. But it wouldn't be anymore. Sasuke knew that what he was facing was a brave new world, never seen before. [AU where one event caused an Alternate Timeline. SasuSaku Main Pairing.]


**A/N: Hey! So this comes from a story I've been working on for nearly two years. Actually, based off another Naruto fic (an audio one). Where this particular version of the story starts, is the end of act OG Naruto. It's an alternate world (where one event early on changed the course of the story) and all the changes and their consequences will be revealed as the story goes on. Since this is basically starting in the Shippuden side, there's a lot that needs to be told so expect lots of mystery! Mostly I wanna use this as a sort of way to outline and lay out the Shippuden + future side of the story for when I have to script this out in Radio Drama format. If anything, next chapter, I'll make a 'rules of the universe' style list—that is, if y'all want it (or a timeline of what happened up to this point). I'll do my best to reveal the information naturally though. Either way this is a very exciting story and hopefully you enjoy the ride.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

The floodlights made it impossible to see what was in front of him.

All that he could manage to make out was a shadow before the light, but within that very instant, he knew that it wasn't _her's._

An ANBU Black OP killed the lights with a snap of his fingers as the door closed behind him. As though he were floating, he moved with grace around the room, making sure to circle around Sasuke once, before he sat in the empty wooden. Both were stationed on opposite ends of a table barren in all but a cup of water for each, seemingly staring each other down in silence for a moment. Slowly, Sasuke narrowed his eyes and knew the other was doing the same.

"Welcome. I assume you know where we are, and why you're here?"

"Yes," the younger responded with calmness.

He had been escorted to what was known to many in the prison as the Black Box. It was a small, tight, concrete room that would have been the nightmare of any man. There were cracks and holes from wear, tear, and violent onslaughts, as well as stains of blood that seemingly went as far back as the reign of the Second Hokage. It was one of the first buildings ever constructed for the sole purpose of interrogation, and in some cases, execution. Those that went in rarely came out in one piece, whether this was meant mentally or physically did not matter. It was typical for the prisoners escorted here to be given last rites, and a chance to pray to whatever deities they believed in. As an Uchiha, Sasuke had his—the man known as Indra Otsutsuki—but he declined the chance to see the beautiful red shrine of his clan or even pray to the Uchiha stone one final time. Beyond not believing in the stories of his clan, he fully expected what was normally a death sentence for the average prisoner to be little more than a cakewalk for him.

Then again, he also expected Sakura to be in the room.

Slowly glancing around, he quickly began to notice just how deadly the room had been for those who came before him. Blood was splattered everywhere—the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. It dripped, old and thick, but still fresh enough that it was more viscous than it was dried. The smell of death was pungent, abrasively assaulting the senses of the Uchiha, who had nothing with which to cover his nose but his hand. It was clear that they had never once cleaned the messes made in the Box. Many trails of blood trailed in sweeping lines and converged at the entrance of the room. The worst part was, of course, the door-by-which-both-entered-separately's inability to open. It was only able to be opened with a chakra based mechanism from the outside, meaning that both of them were stuck until someone unlocked the door.

It was the day of his parole hearing—six full months after he was supposed to be released. For whatever reason, Tsunade had postponed it, only for her to then pull _this_ out of nowhere. It would have been amusing—had it not meant that he had to deal with six more months of bloody fist fights, grueling labor, and the _damnable_ prisoner's marks; that part was the worst. Poison filled his body every time he even so much as channeled a miniscule amount of his chakra. Nothing but the best for Konoha's favorite prisoner, after all. He'd spent more time sick or fighting for his life in his stint within the penitentiary walls than even the lowest, most unfortunate members of the criminal underworld's squalor.

The hooded man with the mask of a bear was unmoving, but still a formidable force of power. The chakra he exuded filled the room without even being channeled. It was enough to overwhelm Sasuke and make him feel as though he was drowning under the deepest pressures at the bottom of the ocean. His chest compressed painfully as the older man simply sat there, without so much as lifting a finger.

"You seem a bit pale. Would you like some water," the ANBU man offered.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

He did not let this phase him. The raven-haired boy leaned back against the chair, body seemingly relaxed whilst his eyes remained sharply fixated on the masked man. His Sharingan flickered on in an instant with a high pitched _schwing_ sound. He knew better than to fold quickly. "It was my understanding that Sakura was going to be the one in charge of my evaluation."

"Sakura Haruno's ability to properly evaluate you has been compromised. It's clear with as close as you two have become, it would be difficult for her to separate you from your crimes and this important review of your case." He spoke with a hint of disdain in his voice, something which Sasuke took note of quickly. The man's hand reached for the clipboard in front of him, slowly lifting it up to his face—seemingly avoiding all the attempts at eye contact that Sasuke was making. "Sasuke Uchiha, age fifteen. You'll be sixteen in a few days. Congratulations."

Sasuke grunted at this and kicked up his feet on the table. It was apparent that he no longer wanted to cooperate. "Tch, whatever. It's typical that Tsunade would promise one thing and then suddenly change the terms of the deal."

"And it's typical that an Uchiha would bite the hand that feeds it. Don't forget why you're in here."

"I served my time."

"And you'll be serving more if you don't show some respect," he retorted. The hand that held the board twitching once or twice in frustration. Slowly, he lowered it, but kept his gaze off of Sasuke's eyes—just in case he'd try to pull something. "Besides, you'll be seeing your girlfriend soon enough, whether it's behind bars or on the outside. The one you choose is absolutely dictated by how cooperative you are in this overview of your case."

Sasuke scoffed, lowering his feet and sitting upright. "It's not like that between us," he replied, coolly.

"She's visited you every day for the last two and a half years."

"That's her decision," he quickly responded. There was a somewhat strange shift in his tone at this, and he quickly lowered his glance to the table, trying to regain his composure. "We're comrades from the same team, that's it. Besides, you and I both know that whether I lick your boots or not is not what's gonna get me out of this place."

The older man chuckled. "Of course."

"Is she here?"

"She's outside, listening and watching through the screen door. You probably expected her to come in behind you when you saw her, but she's actually the one that's in charge of opening the lock, under Tsunade's order. Once I have a full picture of the situation, of course."

Sasuke sighed and leaned forward. "Get on with it, then."

The man cleared his throat upon hearing this and returned his focus to the notepad. He skimmed through all the information before speaking again. "You had abandoned Konoha in order to join with legendary criminal mastermind Orochimaru of the Hidden Sound. The man that invaded Konoha nearly three years ago. You were captured and faced the death penalty. To be hung by a noose in front of an audience, it says here."

"And yet here I am," the young man remarked, smirking. "I pleaded guilty too. You'd imagine that if they wanted to kill me so badly—."

"Don't be so cocky. It says here that Naruto Uzumaki led a movement in order to get your sentence lowered. It's not that they didn't want to kill you. The impassioned words of the late Lord Fifth's son were what saved you. Not to mention that Sakura Haruno, the daughter of the late Fourth, and many others in your class also demanded that you be set free. Your own sensei didn't even stand up for you at your trial, nor did your guardian, Shisui Uchiha, literally the only other Uchiha survivor in existence. Was it really all that close when your own blood would have allowed you to die?"

The prisoner folded his arms, his glance lowering towards the floor. The words brought a strange chill down his spine, and his skin prickled at the thought. ' _Pathetic_ ,' he thought to himself. Had he truly sunk that low back then? Had his quest for power brought such shame to the only person that consistently believed in him?

"No," Sasuke said, finally. "It's not like that. Shisui's always been with Konoha. Even when the Uchiha coup occurred and my family nearly destroyed the Leaf Village…he was the sort of man that stood on the side of right. That's always been his prerogative. He'd told me that I had to face the consequences of my actions…even if it meant that I had to die. He did what he could to change Tsunade's mind about the sentencing, but if she ordered him to cut me down for my actions, he'd do it."

"How doggedly loyal…most unlike the rest of your clan," the man noted with mirth in his voice. "And certainly not like your brother Itachi. No one would have seen what _he_ did coming. I suppose that's why Shisui doesn't give sway to the tainted blood of your clan. Why would he, when your brother committed genocide upon his own clan?"

This talk enough to make Sasuke sick to his stomach. " _Shut up_ ," he growled with gritted teeth. "Don't talk about my clan like that."

"Are you defending that traitorous men and women of your blood?"

Sasuke watched the other with firmness. He knew what the other was trying to do. "I don't agree with what they did."

"But you abandoned the leaf anyways in order to gain power…to _avenge_ them by killing the perpetrator, Itachi Uchiha."

"My family had honor…even when they did what they did…when my father killed Kizashi Haruno, the Fourth Hokage…they had their pride and reasons. _I_ don't agree with their reasons…but I have their pride. Shisui does too. After all, he doesn't renounce the clan enough to stop using our Kekkei Genkai, does he? I want to _avenge my family._ I understand that my _clan_ is not…"

The man quickly took up the pen that was on the clipboard and jotted some notes down, seemingly nodding along with what was being said. "Indeed. I won't disagree with you there. Itachi did more than simply kill those that shared your blood. _He killed_ _your blood._ Your mother, uncles, aunts, cousins, everyone save Shisui, who happened to be out of the nation when the massacre happened. It's understandable that you would want revenge, but do you understand the gravity of how far you took it?"

"Don't mistake my regret of leaving the village as regret over my actions. If I could have left the village without the grief that I caused to my friends and comrades, I'd do it again." Sasuke smirked at that moment, eyes flicking to one of the dark corners of the room. "Funny, I almost feel like I could remember a time where I succeeded. Where I became strong…though…I must admit that I have become strong anyways. So I guess it was a waste of effort anyways."

"Would you say you're rehabilitated? Ready to rejoin the ranks of Konoha shinobi?"

"Yes."

"Will you ever betray Konoha again or abandon her for any reason?"

"No."

The ANBU member stood up at that moment, slowly taking steps around the concrete room. His eyes were on the board, with pen in hand as he paced. Sasuke tried to keep his eyes on the man. "I want you to prove it. I'd like for you to take me through the events, leading to and up to this point, pointing out the catalyst for your change. I want to know how you've changed…why you've changed…to know that you won't betray us again."

"I'd rather not," Sasuke muttered, lowering his head slightly. Quickly, his eyes flicked towards the door, knowing that there was an audience.

"Well, it's your only chance of going free," the Black Op replied with no hesitation in his voice, and also all his impatience. "So unless you'd like me to tell Sakura to escort you back into the care of the prison guards at the end of the hall, it's in your best interests to start talking. Immediately, Uchiha."

It couldn't be helped, it seemed. Relenting, Sasuke took a deep breath at that moment, only to let it out after a moment. "Fine. I'll start with my capture."

* * *

To stand at the border between one realm and the next and witness death was something that most could not stomach. The boy however, felt numb to it. He had seen it thousands of times over in succession. Time after time, he had witnessed those around him fall... in his past, in his present, and in nightmares of the future. It was inescapable.

Between his tightly clenched fingers, Sasuke had held the throat of his best friend; and with a blade of intense power crackling in his hands, he pierced through his lung. He hoped that would get rid of the thorn in his side: Naruto, the only person that could ever threaten his rise.

He could not say it wasn't personal—it was entirely personal.

However much the scene seemed familiar, however, it was not. Sasuke seemed to remember this moment, despite never having experienced it. Somehow—in some way, he could swear he could remember this.

The satisfaction at finally besting his rival.

The underlying disgust with himself.

How he felt ill now seeing his best friend writhing in pain, with his blood and fluids oozing and dripping down his own arm.

All of this seemed familiar to him. And yet at the same time, he knew it was different. He had never known Naruto to put up such a fight, nor use as many jutsus as he did. Hell, he didn't even _know_ that Naruto was capable of knowing wind-style jutsus! Normally it was his tired old shtick of shadow clones and Rasengan.

And yet he had witnessed him doing much more than that.

With his father's kunai, he made a blade of pure wind and matched his movements, blow for blow. How the hell did he do that?! Sasuke had been trained by Shisui of the Body Flicker—the strongest Uchiha at the height of their clan since the massacre! How had he become so fast and so powerful in such a short amount of time?!

He took in a breath, allowing his chest to expand and tighten all at once. The anger inside him bubbled like a cauldron with too much water. It spilled and rumbled, nearly tossing off the lid with each rise. Remaining calm took everything he had, and even then, his hand shook as he clenched it around the neck of the Uzumaki boy.

"You've challenged me for far too long," he said in a low tone. The marks on his body which had receded once again began to spread across his face, and his eyes once again turned red. "Your dad…he was the Hokage, that's the only reason you _ever_ got this far! Meanwhile, I've had to do this…to get such power…from wherever the hell I could take it."

Naruto's ragged breaths were shallow, one lung doing the work of two to keep him alive. He could barely keep conscious, one eye barely able to stay open, fixated on the Sasuke.

"You said you knew what it felt like for me…! But you could never know…what it's like to be alone!" Sasuke shouted. "You've always _had_ your parents! Your father…the Fifth Hokage…he died during Konoha's Invasion, that much is true. But that's not enough. That's not equal to losing your whole family! Are you that much of an idiot…to think one person is the equivalent of hundreds?!"

Naruto could not respond. All he could manage was a whimper drowned in the gargle of his own blood. Despite that, he tried his best to move, shifting in strange motions as Sasuke held him.

"You still have your mother, while mine is dead. You didn't have your entire family taken from you. You aren't like me...like Kakashi…or Sakura. At least when they say they've lost _everything_ …I know that it's true. You're a pretender, and that's what you've always—."

At that moment Naruto's hand was raised up and grabbed at Sasuke's arm tightly. It was enough to make the Uchiha's eyes widen.

"Yeah, well…" Naruto cracked a smile then, demon eyes catching wild ones filled with confusion. His body begun to release a steam as his other hand made a hand sign. "I'm still not lettin' ya get away…"

"What are you—."

"Adamantine Sealing Chains…!"

At that moment, unbreakable chains would shoot out from Naruto's back, wrapping around himself and Sasuke. They quickly snapped about their bodies, making knots within knots and tightened in an instant, binding the two together in the position they stood. Neither able to pull apart from the other, the two fell onto the muddied ground with a thud.

As it begun to rain, Sasuke struggled against the chains and the boy in front of him. "W-Wait! What the hell is this?!" His arm, which punctured right through Naruto's lung was still stuck there, peeking out half way from the chains- just enough that he could move his wrist but not nearly enough for him to even touch the jutsu that now bound the teammates together. His body was crushed beneath the weight of the bindings, barely enough room to breathe, let alone wriggle.

Naruto began to laugh weakly at that moment, eyes still determined as he slowly lost consciousness then. "Did you really think I was…gonna let ya leave the leaf? You belong in Konoha…and if that means…I've got to…tie us up like this…then…so be it." There wasn't enough air or blood for the young genin to keep awake, let alone continue talking, and so when he fell silent, he also slipped into unconsciousness, leaving Sasuke to continue moving against the chains. Each moment became more frantic than the last.

 _No, this couldn't be happening!_

Sasuke had come so far, only for _this_ to stop him?! Sasuke began to whimper in desperation as he struggled, panic slowly beginning to set in. It was only when he realized that he was truly caught that he stopped, and screamed.

It was visceral, primal, a scream of absolute despair.

There was no escape.

He had failed.

.

.

.

When he was brought back to Konoha, Sasuke was not immediately taken anywhere. In fact, strangely, things seemed to return to an eerily calm form with little to no issue whatsoever.

He had not been arrested.

He had not been shamed.

He had not even been called into Tsunade's office for a scolding.

A month passed without incident at all. Despite this, there were some notable exceptions to his return; one being that those of Konoha Eleven were less likely to talk to him and the other being that Black Ops were clearly now following him everywhere he went. Additionally, there were no out-of-village missions assigned to him, and so there was no reason for him to leave the village on business. Those that came looking for Sasuke (particularly from the sound village) were met and dealt with swiftly.

Executions of any shinobi that hailed from this village became a public spectacle which Sasuke was forced to attend. In one instance, he was even assigned to oversee one of these events. At first, they were very often but quickly slowed down in the coming weeks as Konoha made a point to return the mangled bodies of Orochimaru's henchmen right back to his village.

Sasuke soon learned that while Tsunade had a soft side, she was absolutely brutal when she needed to be.

Kakashi and Sakura sat on either side of him in the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant. Whilst the pink-haired kunoichi was seemingly into her food, Sasuke merely picked at his noodles with his chopsticks and stirred the broth.

"Hm, is something the matter, Sasuke?" Kakashi eyed Sasuke carefully before putting down his book. "While I don't really expect you to have a massive appetite, you were the one that suggested coming here in the first place. Not hungry anymore?"

Sakura turned around and glanced at Sasuke as well, raising brow her eyebrows after seeing the bowl untouched. "Sasuke, is something the matter? What's wrong?"

"How the hell can both of you act like nothing's happened?!"

"What are you talking about Sasuke?" The girl put down her chopsticks and leaned forward on the counter, trying to catch sight of Sasuke's eyes. The moment she did however, she noticed the trauma evident in his gaze. She'd gasp softly, only for Sasuke to suddenly turn away and hop off the seat.

"I left the village! I _left_ the village and you guys are acting like nothing happened at all!" Sasuke glared at them, suddenly breathing heavily. His eyes darted between the two confused face before clenching his fists. "I put Naruto in the hospital… _four other shinobi are still in the hospital because of me!_ Sakura, I put you in the hospital too!"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at that moment and slowly moved in her chair, spinning so that she would then face Sasuke. "The only reason you did that was because I tried to fight you, Sasuke. You would have just knocked me out and that would have been the end of it but I forced your hand by using my jutsus on you. You even said you didn't want to fight me."

"And what about the others?!"

Kakashi sighed, folding his arms whilst turning his glance towards his student. "Naruto wanted us to just try to get everything back to as normal. Unfortunately, he can't be with us until his injuries heal, but since we have strict orders from the Sixth Hokage to do just this, there's really no choice in the matter," he explained, seemingly irritated with the boy's dramatics. Exhaustion, which was always prominent on his face was now only secondary. Something in his eyes made the girl beside him very uneasy—almost like the glance that a lion would have if a thorn were embedded in its paw. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to relax before forcing a smile most unnatural—even for him. "Besides, you're quite lucky. Most people would have been executed by now…or at the very least arrested. Yet here you are, free as can be, and all due to the wishes of your comrade Naruto. If anything, you should be grateful to him."

 _Unbelievable!_ Sasuke clenched his teeth so lightly that he could feel the pressure giving him a migraine. How could they simply go with that?! Was it really that easy to forgive what he did?! It was treason! He _knew_ that Tsunade was punishing him with this—by forcing him to experience such absurd restrictions whilst every one simply ignored the fact that any of it even happened! Lowering his head, he hid the bottom half of his face within the massive collar of his shirt before spinning around on his heel and storming out of the noodle shop.

"Sasuke—wait!"

He heard her voice echoing through the streets, growing distant and faint with every rushed step that he took away from them. Of course, the moment that he left the ward of his sensei, he could sense _them_ following him.

"Damn ANBU," he muttered under his breath. "Don't they have anything better to do?!"

As quickly as he felt them however, suddenly, they disappeared, and just in that very moment, he could hear someone's familiar footsteps running to catch up to him in the night.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out.

Stopping his hurried pace, Sasuke turned around, hands in pockets as his teammate ran up to him. Giving her a moment to catch her breath, he tilted his head down towards her, eyebrow quirked. It wasn't unusual that she would follow him, but it was unusual that she would even _speak_ to him after what he did to her. Then again, she hadn't stopped talking to him since he came back.

"Sakura," he murmured, something strange he couldn't quite catch rising in his voice. "Why are you following me?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"You didn't have to do that." He watched as the girl would start to regain her composure and stood up properly, folding her arms and making a face at his response.

"You can't just blow up in people's faces and then leave. You don't think people will worry?"

"I don't think people would care at all anymore," Sasuke remarked, somewhat letting a half smile through his normally serious expression.

Sakura didn't find this funny, however. "You can't seriously expect that. You weren't brought back because people didn't care about you. We do! Some of the others are just…upset, is all."

"Just upset, huh?"

At this, Sakura's expression fell, as did her eyes which now glanced at the floor. She seemingly searched for words to give to Sasuke—something that would give him hope or assurance that everything was alright between him and the other members of their class. Beyond Naruto, however, she couldn't find a single word from anyone about Sasuke lately which would be any less than scathing. Perhaps the boy had a point, she thought.

"Well, even if _they_ don't care, I still do! Isn't that enough?"

Sasuke paused for a moment, seemingly considering the words before shutting his eyes. "Sakura…you…"

"What I said before…it's still true, even right now. I love you more than I can bear. You and I…we're the same. We've both lost our families…and all we've had since then is each other…and Naruto…and Kakashi sensei! Why would you want to walk away from all that…ignore all the concern and worry we have for you?! We've been through so much together as Team Seven!"

It was at this moment that Sasuke would open his eyes again, looking squarely at the kunoichi. A rare glimpse of openness was visible in his eyes—vulnerability in the midst of the many thoughts that crossed his mind in endless marathons. "It's not as easy as you make it sound. Walking away…I weighed my options…and the road I chose was the one I picked because I had my eyes on my goals. If Naruto felt the only way he could become Hokage was by training outside of the village, he'd leave too. In fact, _you_ wanted to come with me. Your goals would take you wherever I went. In fact, they almost did, didn't it? You had begged me to take you with me." Sasuke could only shake his head at the thought. No, Sakura could never become involved with the sort of evil he nearly associated himself with. "No one… _no one_ would ever give up their goals because it took them outside the village. If you didn't chase what you wanted most with all you had, would it have been a goal worth keeping?"

Sakura looked towards her feet. "I…"

There was a strange lingering between them, heavy with tension yet held together by a subtle comfort that was felt in their presence. It was enough to make him forget—perhaps for an instant—that he was currently the most hated man in Konoha. Despite it, Sasuke kept his guard up, knowing that at any moment, the ANBU could come back. He could only keep his mind off this worry by giving all his focus to the girl in front of him.

"Oh, I suppose that I forgot. Congrats…"

"For what?"

"Becoming Chunin." He pointed at the flak jacket that Sakura was wearing. It was grey and black, unlike the many others that the shinobi around the village wore. "You lost your bout in the Chunin exams, as I recall. Against Shino, but they still gave you the rank. I could only imagine the sort of stunts you pulled to impress the higher-ups."

"O-Oh, right." Sakura blushed brightly at this, her eyes flicking towards a corner as she remembered the day in her mind. She slowly took in a breath before sighing contently, the sight of which made Sasuke scoff, putting his hands back in his pockets. He knew exactly what she was thinking about.

"You still remember _that_?"

"I don't think I could ever forget that day," she said to him with a dreamy tone. It was difficult for either of them to forget the events of that day.

For Sasuke, it was the swell of the crowd, the adrenaline that pumped through his blood as he battled it out. He hadn't seen any of the matches before his own, but he could only imagine the sort of insane bouts that had to have happened in that stadium. After all Sakura's match alone destroyed the arena's main floor, forcing them to postpone the rest of the matches for hours. Suddenly, whilst shaking with excitement, Sasuke turned towards Sakura, seemingly about to say something.

Of course, seeing her expression reminded her that the fights and the glory of entertaining a massive crowd with men and women from around the continent were not what she was interested. No, what she was remembering was _something completely different._

Huffing, Sasuke knew it couldn't be helped. He remembered it too, after all. It was hard to forget.

Just as quickly as she fell into her flights of fancy, however, she recalled that the day was not all joy and triumph. Indeed, what had been an eventful enough day for everyone only became more so when the tournament was abruptly cut short. "That's the day that Konoha was attacked and the Fifth gave his life to save us all."

Sasuke motioned for Sakura to follow him before slowly beginning to walk again.

She followed him faithfully, to which Sasuke could only scoff at again.

"We can't change the past _._ Only by accepting it do we move forward and become stronger. Naruto learned that lesson himself when it happened. You should know it too, considering your own circumstances," he said as his eyes glanced off into the distance, where he could see a mother ushering her child into the house. "Anyways, we should be close to your house, right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm dropping you off, and then I'm going home. I'm tired already and I don't need any more people bothering me."

"O-Oh…"

His eyes shifted from side to side, his muscles as tense as they could be and his body prepared to fight. It was clear that he wouldn't be able to shake them. He never could. However, something today was different about them.

He whispered under his breath, "There's more of them than usual…"

* * *

Wait," the ANBU interrogator raised his hand to stop Sasuke in the midst of his story, only to pick up his cup of water. Lifting the mask the slightest bit, he moved the cup underneath it and tilted his head back, taking loud, quick gulps of the cool liquid. When he put the cup down, it was with a smack of his lips and a satisfied sigh.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at this and he quickly cocked his head to the side. "Are you finished?"

"No," he said firmly. "I wanted to ask…why are you telling me this part of the story? I'm quite sure you and I both know what happened next."

"That you guys kidnapped me by force? Yeah, I know."

"Then why are you mentioning it?"

"I just wanted to remind you of _exactly what happened_ before I was captured."

There was a silence that lingered after that statement, tense and awkward both.

"You don't need to mention that," he noted with an almost embarrassed tone. "I believe that we forced that man to apologi—."

Sasuke was having none of this. "You ANBU hit me upside the head…with a kanabo. You guys dragged my body and tossed me in a prison cell when I could have walked there on my own."

"Look, how about we just let that go? It's all in the past now."

"For you. For _me_ , it's still quite fresh."

"Two years later?"

"I've been known to hold a grudge," he pointed out, somewhat smugly.

"Well, how about we get back to the story? Skip a bit. I'm sure neither of us wants to be here any longer than we have to. Not to mention, we both have people waiting for us to finish."

Slowly, Sasuke sat back, watching the hooded man with ire. He was right though, there really was no reason for him to drag this out longer than it needed to be. "Fine, I'll continue."


End file.
